The long, lonely road to Athens

IT IS 7am on St. Patrick’s Day and three young men climb out of their beds in a Dublin B&B. While the nation snoozes, taking advantage of the holiday for a lie-in, this trio is off to work.

Not even the country's national holiday can stop them from attempting to realise their dreams of boxing for Ireland at the Athens Olympics.

Andy Lee in the 75kg middleweight division has already qualified having booked his ticket with a bronze medal at the European Championship in Croatia last month.